Category Archives: Labour Code 2017

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“The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed …… to exploit, ……. its citizens”

– Leo Tolstoy

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It was the NDA government which during the period of  Mr. Sahib Singh Verma as the Minister for Labour from 2002 to 2004, started setting up numerous Sub-Regional Offices around the nation, including the bizarre one for Benares with less than 1000 insured persons.

It is the same NDA government now which is closing down the Sub-Regional Offices.

It was the NDA government with the same Mr. Sahib Singh Verma, as the Labour Miniser, which caused creating more and more posts of SMCs and SSMCs everywhere. It is the  same NDA government which abolishes those posts now, in spite of the facts that many SMCs are doing commendable job.

But, this time, the operation-closure of SROs and the Offices of the SMCs is part of the grand design to dismantle the structure of social security organisations under public control, to facilitate the greedy ultra-rich of India to find new business avenues to make crores and crores for themselves at the cost of the poor working class.

It is strange that the Indian politicians so willingly allow themselves to be used by these business-interests to work against the 99% people of the nation. The Oxfam in its  report titled ‘An economy for the 99 per cent’, suggested that “it is time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few”. But, the politicians in power would not listen. Because, all round development of the nation does not benefit the politicians who happen to be in power.  Nor would a public sector organisation that caters to the social security needs of the people pay hefty donation to the political party in power, while private organisations reward them in numerous ways.

1% wants to corner 80% of the wealth

As of 2015, 1% of the population of India owned 53% of the country’s wealth, as per the report of Credit Suisse (Times of India 14.10.2015).

In 2017

As of 2017, the richest 1% owned 58% total wealth in India (The Hindu 16.01.2017), as per the report of the Oxfam.

Now, by dismantling the public-sector social security organisations, the abovesaid 1% could corner another 25% of the nation’s resources. All, in democracy and in the name of democracy.

While the UPA  government saw the resources of the ESIC being frittered away by setting up medical education institutions in a reckless manner, the NDA had, not only joined hands in further exploitation of the ESIC by setting up more medical institutions, but had chosen from 28.02.2015 onwards to further please the ever-greedy ultra-rich by winding up the social security system of the nation, through the Labour Code on Social Security and Welfare.

Democracy means Rule by Debate. But, the manner in which the Indian politicians willingly allow themselves to be manipulated by and for the ultra-rich and bring up a Labour Code by bypassing so many time-tested methods of law-making, will land the nation in misery forever.

ILO is aware of pitfalls but hesitates to call a spade a spade

As for the role of the ILO in the preparation of the said Labour Code on Social Security and Welfare, the less said the better. The authorities of the ILO had not endorsed any of the proposal of the Labour Code. They just gave their guidelines and left the matter at that. The same was the case with the ISSA too. But, the central bureaucrats project it as a completion of the required formality to consult the ILO and ISSA. But, the same ILO, which has, now, lost its opportunity to protect the Indian Labour, from the ill-effects of the proposed Labour Code on Social Security and Welfare,  did not hesitate to criticise India in  in November 2010,  for its notorious informal labour practices. “India has performed poorly in providing social security protection to its people until recently with ‘very high vulnerability’ to poverty and informal labour practices in the world, according to a report released by the International Labour Office (ILO) today” (Times of India – 16.11.2010). In its first comprehensive ‘World Social Security Report’, the ILO has suggested that India has not done enough in the arena of social security protection, which is reckoned as the “human face of globalisation, in line with its fiscal status”. But, when there is opportunity at hand for the ILO to prevent the calamity in the arena of social security in India, the ILO is wishy-washy in its stand. Pity the ILO !

In regard to the importance of the ILO,  the Course material PGDLL of Vardhman University, says, “If the ILO Conventions are seen in the general spectrum of labour conditions, one can imagine the great value and influence they have in moulding the course of social and economic philosophy of the world. The world without their influence and continuance may be a world of perpetual competition, exploitation, inequality and injustice resulting in wars and confrontations. Judged in this perspective, it would be highly relevant to assess the impact of the ILO standards on Indian Labour legislation. This impact can be seen in three phase, namely, labour, legislation in India before the ILO. Labour legislation in India from 1919 to 1947 and labour legislation in India after 1947.” But, the ILO has betrayed the trust of the labour in it, 70 years later in 2017, by its choice to play an ineffective role in the preparation of Labour Code on Social Security and Welfare.

The coterie of the rich and powerful

It is, ultimately, the cleverness of the persons that carries the day. The greedy rich, the servile politicians, the sheepish ILO and the unfaithful bureaucrats joined hands together to work against the poor. What else would explain the daring manner in which the existing time-tested benefits given to the working population are attempted to be reduced by the ruling class even for the organised labour?

The poor of the nation are protected neither by the bureaucrats who willingly carry out the dishonest orders of their political superiors nor by the employees’ representatives who occupy the seats in the supreme body of the ESI Corporation as Members. As for the role of these members of the ESIC, no one other than Mr. Kali Ghose understood the issues and defended the labour right from the beginning till his end. He was the only member in the supreme body of the organisation, who spoke for the poor sincerely.

It is now left to the commoners to prevent this Labour-Code from being made law. It is the duty of the thinkers among them to stand up and expose the misdeeds of the rulers and stop the nation from being looted by the  ugly ultra-rich more and more, through the proposed Labour Code on Social Security! Let them speak up!!

Perform your role and avoid double-penalty !

A citation from Quoran is worth-quoting in the context:

There was a Mullah in a village. He was a very honest and pious man just doing his work in the mosque. The villagers had been indulging in various sinful activities, like theft, adulteration, cheating, adultery, etc., But, the Mullah who was aware of the entire on goings did not come forward to inform the villagers of their folly. He did not make any efforts to reform them. He thought that none would listen to him. He, however, guarded himself not to commit any such sinful activity.

Soon, there was flood. It washed away the entire village. It took away the Mullah too. All of them appeared before God. God punished everybody according to the nature of his or her crime. When Mullah presented himself last, he was imposed with double-penalty. Mullah pleaded that he had not committed any sin and that he had been doing only the work for God in the mosque. God did not agree. It was the duty of the Mullah to inform the villagers of their wrongs. The villagers were not aware of the extent and consequence of their sin. To some extent they were ignorant too. But the Mullah was an informed man. He was, therefore, duty-bound to inform the others. Whether the others would listen to him or not was a different issue. Mullah had to perform his duty of informing the  people but he had not done so. He had, in fact, not made any efforts in that direction. God said that the Mullah, therefore, deserved double penalty. “When a sin is committed before an individual or a group and they do not prevent it, in spite of having the capability, then Allah inflicts a severe punishment on them…” (Virtues of Tabligh — Chapter II – Sayings of the Prophet).

Thus, Islam shows that even a priest cannot go to heaven unless he discharges his inherent duty when on earth. Generally, no one would observe the religious formalities more punctually and more systematically than the priest. Yet, the doors to heaven do not open to those who observe only those formalities and do not perform their duties towards humanity.

The thinkers who know the ill-effects of the ill-intentioned Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare should come out of their slumber and discharge their duty to inform the people about the impending danger posed to the nation by the said Code. That is the only way they can avoid double-penalty later.

“I am only one; I cannot do everything. 

Still, I am one; I can do something. 

Because I cannot do everything, 

I will not desist from doing something that I can do”, 

-Helen Keller.

It is proposed to file a Writ Petition in the Hon’ble High Court of Madras against the Draft Bill on Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare.

There had been conspiracy by the ravenously-greedy vested interests to dismantle the established social security schemes of the nation and make money by privatising social security.

They do not listen to reason. They do not answer questions. They hide many facts. There is, therefore, no option for the common man to knock at the doors of Courts for justice. Action is under way.

The following is the Synopsis of the case.

Suggestions are welcome:

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Respondent =-1 is the Secretary, Ministry of Labour and the Respondent-2 is the Director General of the ESI Corporation.

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Synopsis

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1. It is submitted that the ESI Act is intended to provide ‘Public Assistance’ to the working population and thereby advancing the purpose of Art. 41 and 42 of the Constitution of India duly monitored by the International Labour Organisation as per their international parameters. The ESI Act provides, for the present, security-net to the working population in the factories and the industrial and commercial establishments in the organised sector and its long-term goal, as spelt out in Sec. 1 (5) of the Act, is to extend the security-net not only to all the factories but also to all kinds of establishments including those which are agricultural or otherwise.
2. The quantum of benefits provided by the ESI Act, at present, in the event of Sickness, Employment Injuries of various kinds and Fatal Accidents ensure a decent and dignified lifestyle for the insured persons and their dependants. Yet, the ESI Act is not a compulsory provision as it does have provisions for exemption of various classes of factories, establishments and employees, if the employers provide to their employees, benefits which are ‘substantially similar’ or ‘superior’ to the ones provided under the ESI Act. But, the fact is that none of the employers in private sector could, so far, match the benefits provided under the ESI Act and claim exemption in a legitimate manner. Even the newspaper, The Hindu, had editorially conceded on 01.01.2005, that “The package (of benefits provided by the ESIC) can rarely be matched by private employers on their own because of the heavy costs involved – not to mention the disinclination among employers, with honorable exceptions, to operate health care systems for their workforce”.
3. Art. 41 of the Constitution of India says that “The State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right …. to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want”. The Constitution thus, gives direction to the State that in cases of Sickness, disablement and in other cases of undeserved want, the State is to provide “public assistance”. The ESI Corporation was established for fulfilling this Constitutional mandate. The State, the Government of India, cannot, therefore, make provisions for “private assistance” and absolve itself of its Constitutional responsibility. But, the Respondents are hell-bent on doing exactly the same.

4. They have, in the guise of taking policy decision, brought out a Draft Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare, to arbitrarily reduce, very drastically, the benefits payable to the employees. And, in order not to make the working population know about their mala fide intention to deny or reduce the benefits already available to them, the Respondents have brought out the Draft Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare, by combining 15 enactments together, without explaining the objects and reasons and without making the people know about the provisions which are attempted to be dispensed with. The intention of the Respondents is to aid, on the sly, the private players enter the field of insurance in industry-related contingencies and make profit, by diluting the benefit provisions of the ESI Act which stood the test of time for over six decades.
5. Moreover, the Respondents make the provisions of accountability of the private players very lose and nebulous. The entire social security scenario the nation is in jeopardy, because of the dubious manner in which the Respondents have been functioning to bring out this impugned code, as could be seen from their replies and non-response to various applications under the Right to Information Act, 2005.. People have been left wth no information pertaining to these essential aspects of the Code and have been left to wonder whether they would be benefitted or affected by the new Code.
6. The Draft Code is not an all-inclusive document. There are so many areas deliberately left to remain grey to facilitate non-accountability of the private players. Defects of various kinds in the Bill show unseemly hurry on the part of the authorities to destabilise the present social security structure and bring in something unknown even to the Respondents themselves.
7. It is, therefore, humbly prayed that the Hon’ble High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order or direction in the nature of Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the records of the Respondents pertaining to the Draft Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare, circulated by the Respondent-1 in Circular No. Z-13025/13 / 12015 – LRC dated 16.03.2017 and quash the same and, consequently, issue direction to the Respondents to take further action to prepare and put in public domain a comprehensive Bill covering all aspects of the subject-matter on Social Security & Welfare, including the proposed Schemes, Rules (that would be framed by the Government) and the tentative Regulations (that would be framed by the National Council) with reference to the  Schemes for Social Security mentioned in   24 of the said draft Code and call for the comments of the Stakeholders / Public afresh and to grant interim injunction restraining the Respondents from taking further action to place the present Draft Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare, circulated by the Respondent-1 in Circular No. Z-13025/13 / 12015 – LRC dated 16.03.2017 before the Parliament pending disposal of the present Writ Petition and to pass further or other orders as may be deemed fit in the circumstances of the case.

Dated at Chennai this 25^th October 2017.

Counsel for the Petitioner.

In the context of a few unscrupulous bureaucrats of the Ministry of Labour venturing to bring out a Labour Code on Social Security & Welfare, in connivance and collaboration with power brokers, it is appropriate to examine the proceedings of the 21st World Congress 2017 that meets at present in Singapore from 3 to 6 September 2017.

It is all the more necessary because the Indian bureaucrats have gone to the extent of projecting their Code having been, in effect, approved by the ILO and the ISSA. This is a clear mischief for which they must be made accountable before the court of law.

Mr. Guy Rider, the Director General of the ILO has said that the failure of various nations to adequately invest in health of the workers, has affected the economy and the impact is equal to the total GDP of the poorest 130 countries in the world.

More from the website of the ILO:

 http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_573118/lang–en/index.htm 

“The global economic impact of the failure to adequately invest in occupational safety and health is roughly equal to the total GDP of the poorest 130 countries in the world,” International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder told nearly 3,500 participants during the opening ceremony at the XXI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work , in Singapore on 3 September.

The new global estimates on work-related illnesses and injuries represent 3.94 per cent of global GDP per year, or 2.99 trillion US dollars. In human lives that means 2.78 million workers continue to die each year from work-related injuries and illnesses – 2.4 million of these deaths can be attributed to work-related diseases alone. The figures announced today were developed by Finland, Singapore, the EU and the International Commission on Occupational Health, with the support of ILO.

The new figures point to a growing body of evidence demonstrating the global cost of failing to adequately address existing and emerging occupational safety and health (OSH) concerns, and to the importance of OSH to sustainable development. “Clearly there is a recognition that certain OSH challenges are global challenges that require global solutions,” said Ryder.

Mr Ryder noted ILO’s readiness to engage in the development of a global coalition with key partners in meeting these challenges, as proposed by Finnish Minister of Labour Pirkko Mattila, in a forum on the future of work.

As a co-organizer of the 2017 World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, ILO is addressing key challenges for the future of work and the implications for the safety and health of workers. During the four-day Congress the ILO will participate in symposia and technical sessions on the need for reliable OSH data, improving occupational safety and health in global supply chains, creating mechanisms for the exchange of OSH data, knowledge and expertise globally, and fostering proactive occupational safety and health compliance strategies at national level. Engagement of youth around the world will be key to addressing these challenges.

“How the future of work is forged will, of course, have the greatest impact on this and the next generation and they must have a voice in the process including on OSH,” said Ryder in addressing Congress participants.

Youth and OSH is a key theme at the XXI World Congress and central to ILO’s flagship Occupational Safety and Health-Global Action for Prevention Programme. “Forty million youth are entering the labour market this year and they are the best-educated generation the world has ever seen. We must take advantage of this demographic dividend and unleash the potential and creativity of these young people,” said the head of the ILO.

As part of ILO’s SafeYouth@Work project , some 125 Youth Champions from more than 29 countries are participating in a Youth Congress parallel to the World Congress. The SafeYouth@Work Congress  seeks to build a corps of Youth Champions on OSH to address the significant workplace safety and health challenges faced by young workers. The Youth Congress will conclude with the development of prototype models for targeted tripartite efforts at country and regional level, for improving working conditions for young people.  

The XXI World Congress, being held 2-6 September, is a tri-annual event jointly organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Social Security Association (ISSA), and is hosted this year by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower.

For a powerpoint presentation on the Labour Code on Social Security click on the following link;

Labour Code for Flourishing ESIC

Another reply from the Ministry of Labour is available. The reply received from the Ministry in their letter No. M. 13014 / 01/ 2017 – LRC dated 12.05.2017 is in reply to the application dated 19.04.2017 sent under the RTI Act which is available in the following link:

https://flourishingesic.info/2017/04/13/labour-code-whittling-down-accidents-covered-by-the-esi-act-1948-providing-subsidy-to-employers/

If the contents of this letter are true, it would imply that the entire draft Labour Code is the handy work of some bureaucrats who had taken unlimited liberty with the time-tested labour laws and have made a mincemeat of them through the draft Labour Code.

What is more, they do not know what their ultimate aim is but have attempted to write something as Labour Code and create unnecessary social unrest in the nation.

The earlier reply is available in the following link:

https://flourishingesic.info/2017/04/29/labour-code-premature-one-bizarre-method-of-law-making-draftsmen-ignorant-of-destinations/

The ILO had, in its ‘World Social Security Report’ released on 16.11.2010 said that there were many “informal labour practices” in India and that the people of India are exposed to “very high vulnerability” to poverty.

The Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, New Delhi has, during the “Consultation Workshop”held on 02.05.2017, said that the draft Labour Code put in public domain on 16.03.2017, was “the outcome of prolonged discussions with the ILO and ISSA experts”.

When the name of the ILO is used thus, by the Secretary of the MOL & E  to justify a controversial Labour Code, people do have the right to know whether the ILO is really aware of the contents and the substance of the Labour Code.

Hence the following letter to the ILO: